Jean Grémillon

Made short documentaries and experimental films before directing his first feature in 1927. Gremillon earned critical acclaim but little box-office success with films such as "Maldone" (1927) and "La Petite Lise" (1930), subsequently working in Spain and Germany. After returning to France he produced some of his finest work--including "Lumiere d'ete" (1943), a Jacques Prevert-penned study of the decadent French aristocracy--during WWII. Gremillon returned to making documentaries after the war and was president of the Cinematheque Francaise from 1943 to 1958.